Reusable surgical port with disposable seal assembly

ABSTRACT

A surgical port includes a shell and a seal assembly. The shell has a housing and a cannula that extends from the housing. The housing has a sidewall defining a window therethrough. The seal assembly includes one or more seals. The seal assembly is selectively receivable into the housing through the window of the housing of the shell.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to surgical instruments, and in particular, to surgical ports with reusable and/or disposable components for use during a minimally invasive surgical procedure such as a robotic surgical procedure.

BACKGROUND

Robotic surgical systems have been used in minimally invasive medical procedures.

Some robotic surgical systems include a robot arm having an instrument drive assembly coupled thereto for coupling surgical instruments to the robot arm, such as, for example, a pair of jaw members, electrosurgical forceps, cutting instruments, or any other endoscopic or open surgical devices, and a mount assembly coupled thereto for coupling surgical accessories to the robot arm, such as, for example, a trocar or surgical port, an optical device, or the like.

Prior to or during use of the robotic system, surgical instruments are selected and connected to the instrument drive assembly of each robot arm, where the instrument drive assembly can drive the actuation of an end effector of the surgical instrument. Under certain procedures, a surgical accessory, such as, for example, an optical device or a surgical port may be coupled to the robot arm via the mount assembly of the robot arm. During a procedure, the end effector and/or a portion of the surgical instrument may be inserted through the surgical port, and a small incision or a natural orifice of a patient, to bring the end effector proximate a working site within the body of the patient. Such surgical ports may provide additional stability, and act as a guide channel, for the surgical instrument during insertion and actuation of the end effector.

Given the loads and torques that can be applied during robotic surgery, high strength surgical ports are required to provide additional functionality. Surgical ports made from plastic material may not be sufficiently durable for high torques applied by surgical robot arms, but metallic components are expensive.

SUMMARY

This disclosure is directed to a surgical port system having a shell and a disposable seal assembly that is selectively receivable and/or removable to/from the shell. The shell may be 3D printed. In embodiments, the shell may include titanium. The shell can be configured to be lightweight, yet withstand high loads. The disposable seal assembly, which may be in the form of a puck, can include plastic and/or rubber material designed to seal against the shell and internally to enable access via laparoscopic instruments advanced through the seal assembly and shell. The shell may define a window through which the seal assembly passes. The seal assembly is configured to rotate within, and relative to the shell, for camming along the shell to snap-fit to the shell. With the seal assembly secured to the shell via snap-fit, the seal assembly is sealed against the shell and internally against the instruments passed therethrough. The seal assembly can be removed from the shell and discarded, for instance, after a surgical procedure. With the seal assembly removed, the shell can be sterilized for reprocessing and reuse with another seal assembly.

According to one aspect, this disclosure is directed to a surgical port including a shell and a seal assembly. The shell has a housing and a cannula that extends from the housing. The housing has a sidewall defining a window therethrough. The seal assembly includes one or more seals. The seal assembly is selectively receivable into the housing through the window of the housing of the shell.

In embodiments, the seal assembly may be selectively rotatable relative to the shell to secure the seal assembly to the shell. The seal assembly may be selectively removable from the shell.

In various embodiments, the shell may include reusable material and the seal assembly may include disposable material. The shell may include titanium and the seal assembly may include plastic and/or rubber.

In many embodiments, the seal assembly may include a floating seal and a duckbill seal.

In embodiments, the seal assembly may include a detent and the shell may define a detent slot that is positioned to receive the detent for securing the seal assembly to the shell.

In various embodiments, the seal assembly may support a gasket to seal the seal assembly within the shell.

In some embodiments, the seal assembly may include a seal housing having a first geometry. The window may have a second geometry. The first geometry may be keyed to the second geometry. The seal housing may include a tooth and the window may include a tooth gap positioned to receive the tooth when the seal housing is laterally slid into the window.

According to another aspect, this disclosure is directed to a surgical port system. The surgical port system includes a first seal assembly including one or more seals, a second seal assembly including one or more seals, and a shell. The shell has a housing and a cannula that extends from the housing. The housing has a sidewall defining a window therethrough that is configured to receive the first and second seal assemblies therethrough so that the shell can support one of the first or second seal assemblies therein at any given time.

In embodiments, each of the first and second seal assemblies may be selectively rotatable relative to the shell to secure the respective first or second seal assembly to the shell. The respective first or second seal assembly may be selectively removable from the shell.

In various embodiments, the shell may include reusable material and each of the first and second seal assemblies may include disposable material. The shell may include titanium and each of the first and second seal assemblies may include at least one of plastic or rubber.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first or second seal assemblies may include a floating seal and a duckbill seal.

In many embodiments, each of the first and second seal assemblies may include a detent and the shell may define a detent slot that is positioned to receive the detent for securing one of the first or second seal assemblies to the shell.

In embodiments, each of the first and second seal assemblies may support a gasket to seal one of the first or second seal assemblies within the shell.

In some embodiments, each of the first and second seal assemblies may include a tooth and the window of the shell may include a tooth gap positioned to receive the teeth of the first and second seal assemblies.

According to yet another aspect, this disclosure is directed to a method for sealing surgical instrumentation with a surgical port system. The method includes inserting a first disposable seal assembly through a window defined in a sidewall of a housing of a shell, the shell including a cannula that extends from the housing. The method further includes rotating the first disposable seal assembly relative to the housing to secure the first disposable seal assembly to the shell for providing a surgical port assembly that enables surgical instrumentation to remain sealed when such surgical instrumentation is advanced through surgical port assembly. The method also includes selectively removing the first disposable seal assembly from the housing for selective replacement with a second disposable seal assembly receivable through the window of the housing.

The details of one or more aspects of this disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a surgical port system;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, with parts separated, of the surgical port system of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view, with parts separated, of a seal assembly of the surgical port system of FIGS. 1 and 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a shell of the surgical port system of FIGS. 1 and 2 ;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of the shell of FIG. 4 as taken along section line 5-5 shown in FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of a seal assembly of the surgical port system of FIGS. 1 and 2 as taken along section line 6-6 shown in FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of the shell of FIG. 4 as taken along section line 7-7 shown in FIG. 5 ;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of the seal assembly of FIG. 3 as taken along section line 8-8 shown in FIG. 2 ;

FIGS. 9-13 are progressive views illustrating the seal assembly of FIG. 3 being secured to the shell of FIG. 4 ; and

FIG. 14 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of a trailing end portion of the surgical port system of FIGS. 1 and 2 as taken along section line 14-14 shown in FIG. 12 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of this disclosure are described in detail with reference to the drawings, in which like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding elements in each of the several views. Additionally, the term “proximal” or “trailing” refers to the portion of structure that is closer to the clinician and the term “distal” or “leading” refers to the portion of structure that is farther from the clinician. As commonly known, the term “clinician” refers to a doctor (e.g., a surgeon), a nurse, or any other care provider and may include support personnel.

In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring this disclosure in unnecessary detail.

With regard to FIG. 1 , a surgical port system 100 is a multi-piece construct including a shell 200, which may be autoclavable and reusable, and a seal assembly 300 that is selectively removable from shell 200, and which may be disposable when removed from shell 200. Shell 200 may include any suitable material such as metallic material like titanium. Seal assembly 300 may include any suitable material such as a plastic and/or rubber.

Turning to FIGS. 2-8 , shell 200 of surgical port system 100 includes a housing 210 supported on a trailing end portion of shell 200 and an elongated cannula 220 that extends distally from housing 210 to an insertion tip 222 on a leading end portion of cannula 220. Shell 200 defines a longitudinal axis “L” and a central passage 230 that extends distally along longitudinal axis “L” from a proximal end portion of housing 210 through a distal end portion of insertion tip 222 of cannula 220 for receiving surgical instrumentation (not shown) therethrough. Such surgical instrumentation can include graspers, forceps, staplers, endoscopes, clip appliers, stitching devices, etc. Housing 210 defines a window 212 through a sidewall 210 x of housing 210 that is keyed to seal assembly 300 for receiving seal assembly 300 within an inner cavity 214 defined by housing 210. Window 212 is defined by an angled bottom edge 212 a having a tooth gap 212 b, a first side edge 212 c extending from a first side of angled bottom edge 212 a, a second side edge 212 d extending from tooth gap 212 b on a second side of angled bottom edge 212 a, and a top edge 212 e that connects first and second side edges 212 c, 212 d. Housing 210 further defines a detent slot 216 that is angularly offset from window 212 of housing 210 for coupling seal assembly 300 to shell 200. Housing 210 also includes a keyed track 218 along which seal assembly 200 is configured to cam toward detent slot 216 of housing 210.

Seal assembly 300 of surgical port system 100 includes a seal housing 310 and a gasket 320 (e.g., an O-ring) supported by housing 310. Seal housing 310 defines an opening 312 that extends longitudinally through seal housing 310 and a gasket channel 314 that extends around an upper surface of seal housing 310 for selectively receiving gasket 320 therein. Seal housing 310 can include an upper housing 310 a and a lower housing 310 b that can be integrally (e.g., monolithically) formed together as a unit or independent portions of seal housing 310 that can be selectively secured together using any suitable securement technique such as fastening, welding, adhesion, snap-fit, friction-fit, etc., or combinations thereof. Seal housing 310 has geometry that is keyed to window 212 of housing 210 of shell 200 and configured to be received within inner cavity 214 of housing 210 of shell 200 through window 212 of housing 210 of shell 200. Seal housing 310 of seal assembly 300 includes an angled bottom edge 310 c that corresponds to angled bottom edge 212 a of housing 210 of shell 200. Seal housing 310 further includes a detent 316 that extends radially outward from an outer side surface of seal housing 310 and is configured to move toward and away from outer side surface of seal housing 310 (e.g., by flexing) for selectively engaging detent slot 216 of housing 210 of shell 200. In some embodiments, detent 316 may be formed of any suitable flexible material. Seal housing 310 further includes a tooth 318 that depends distally from seal housing 310.

As seen in FIG. 3 , seal housing 310 of seal assembly 300 supports a floating seal 322 and a duckbill seal 326 that are separated by a disc 324. In embodiments, disc 324 may be integral with the seal housing 310. In some embodiments, floating seal 322 can be positioned on duckbill seal 326. Floating seal 322 includes a septum seal 322 a and a plurality of resilient fingers 322 b extending radially outward from floating seal 322 at spaced-apart positions about floating seal 322 to enable floating seal 322 to float within seal housing 310.

Referring to FIGS. 9-14 , seal assembly 300 can be inserted into housing 210 of shell 200 (e.g., laterally slid into) when features of the seal assembly 300 are aligned with window 212 of shell 200, as indicated by arrows “A”. For example, when tooth 318 of seal housing 310 is aligned with tooth gap 212 b of shell 200, seal assembly 300 can be received through window 212 and into inner cavity 214 of shell 200 so that central longitudinal axes of seal assembly 300 and shell 200 are aligned with one another, as seen in FIG. 11 . With seal assembly 300 seated within inner cavity 214, seal assembly 300 can be rotated (e.g., manually by a clinician) about longitudinal axis “L” so that tooth 318 of seal assembly 300 cams along keyed track 218 of shell 200 as detent 316 of seal assembly 300 cams along angled bottom edge 212 a of shell 200 that defines window 212 of shell 200, as indicated by arrows “B.” Such camming movement of seal assembly 300 relative to shell 200 causes seal assembly 300 to rotate upwardly along longitudinal axis so that detent 316 of seal assembly 300 can snap-fit into detent slot 216 of shell 200 to rotationally and longitudinal fix seal assembly 300 to shell 200 for sealing surgical instrumentation passed through surgical port assembly 300 (e.g., seal and lock). With seal assembly 300 secured to shell 200, surgical port assembly 300 can be utilized to provide access to, for example, inner body cavities such as the abdominal cavity of a patient. With this configuration of surgical port assembly 300, torque applied to surgical port assembly 300, such as by a robotic system attached thereto (not shown), is received through shell 200 while bypassing seal assembly 300, reducing risk of failure.

Seal assembly 300 can be removed from shell 200, for example, after use of surgical port assembly 300, by actuating (e.g., depressing) detent 316, through detent slot 216 into inner cavity 214 of shell 200, and rotating seal assembly 300 until tooth 318 of seal assembly 300 is re-aligned with tooth gap 212 b of shell 200. Once tooth 318 of seal assembly 300 is aligned with tooth gap 212 b of shell 200, seal assembly 300 can be removed from shell 200 and discarded. Shell 200 can then be sterilized as desired and a new seal assembly 300 can be inserted into shell 200, as detailed above, for subsequent use.

As can be appreciated, any of the disclosed components of surgical port assembly 100 may be made from additive manufacturing such as 3D printing.

The various surgical ports disclosed herein may also be configured for use with robotic surgical systems, and what is commonly referred to as “Telesurgery.” Such systems employ various robotic elements to assist the clinician and allow remote operation (or partial remote operation) of surgical instrumentation. Various robotic arms, gears, cams, pulleys, electric and mechanical motors, etc. may be employed for this purpose and may be designed with a robotic surgical system to assist the clinician during the course of an operation or treatment. Such robotic systems may include remotely steerable systems, automatically flexible surgical systems, remotely flexible surgical systems, remotely articulating surgical systems, wireless surgical systems, modular or selectively configurable remotely operated surgical systems, etc.

The robotic surgical systems may be employed with one or more consoles that are next to the operating theater or located in a remote location. In this instance, one team of clinicians may prep the patient for surgery and configure the robotic surgical system with one or more of the instruments disclosed herein while another clinician (or group of clinicians) remotely controls the instruments via the robotic surgical system. As can be appreciated, a highly skilled clinician may perform multiple operations in multiple locations without leaving his/her remote console which can be both economically advantageous and a benefit to the patient or a series of patients. For a detailed description of exemplary medical work stations and/or components thereof, reference may be made to U.S. Pat. No. 8,828,023, and PCT Application Publication No. WO2016/025132, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated by reference herein.

For a more detailed description of similar surgical ports, one or more components of which can be included with the disclosed embodiments, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,338, filed Oct. 20, 1995 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,702, filed on Aug. 8, 1994, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated by reference herein.

Persons skilled in the art will understand that the structures and methods specifically described herein and illustrated in the accompanying figures are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, and that the description, disclosure, and figures should be construed merely as exemplary of particular embodiments. It is to be understood, therefore, that this disclosure is not limited to the precise embodiments described, and that various other changes and modifications may be effected by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of this disclosure. Additionally, it is envisioned that the elements and features illustrated or described in connection with one exemplary embodiment may be combined with the elements and features of another without departing from the scope of this disclosure, and that such modifications and variations are also intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, any combination of any of the disclosed elements and features is within the scope of this disclosure. Accordingly, the subject matter of this disclosure is not to be limited by what has been particularly shown and described. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A surgical port, comprising: a shell having a housing and a cannula extending from the housing, the shell defining a longitudinal axis that extends through the housing and the cannula, the housing having a sidewall defining a window therethrough; and a seal assembly including a floating seal and a duckbill seal, the seal assembly being selectively laterally receivable into the housing through the window of the housing of the shell from an external position, the seal assembly being rotatable in the housing from a first longitudinal position to a second longitudinal position that is vertically offset from the first longitudinal position.
 2. The surgical port of claim 1, wherein the seal assembly secures to the shell in the second longitudinal position.
 3. The surgical port of claim 2, wherein the seal assembly is selectively removable from the shell in the first longitudinal position.
 4. The surgical port of claim 1, wherein the shell includes reusable material and the seal assembly includes disposable material.
 5. The surgical port of claim 4, wherein the shell includes titanium and the seal assembly includes at least one of plastic or rubber.
 6. The surgical port of claim 1, wherein the seal assembly includes a detent and the shell defines a detent slot that is positioned to receive the detent for securing the seal assembly to the shell.
 7. The surgical port of claim 1, wherein the seal assembly supports a gasket to seal the seal assembly within the shell.
 8. The surgical port of claim 1, wherein the seal assembly includes a seal housing having a first geometry, and wherein the window has a second geometry, the first geometry being keyed to the second geometry.
 9. The surgical port of claim 8, wherein the seal housing includes a tooth and the window includes a tooth gap positioned to receive the tooth when the seal housing is laterally slid into the window, and wherein the shell includes a keyed track that causes the tooth to urge the seal assembly to move between the first and second longitudinal positions as the tooth cams along the keyed track.
 10. A surgical port system, comprising: a first seal assembly including at least one seal and a tooth; a second seal assembly including at least one seal, wherein at least one of the first or second seal assemblies includes a floating seal and a duckbill seal; and a shell having a housing and a cannula that extends from the housing, the housing including a keyed track, the shell defining a longitudinal axis that extends through the housing and the cannula, the housing having a sidewall defining a window therethrough that is configured to laterally receive the first and second seal assemblies therethrough from an external position so that the shell can support one of the first or second seal assemblies therein at any given time, the first seal assembly being rotatable in the housing from a first longitudinal position to a second longitudinal position that is vertically offset from the first longitudinal position, and wherein the keyed track causes the tooth to urge the first seal assembly from the first longitudinal position to the second longitudinal position as the tooth cams along the keyed track.
 11. The surgical port system of claim 10, wherein the first seal assembly secures to the shell in the second longitudinal position.
 12. The surgical port system of claim 11, wherein the first seal assembly is selectively removable from the shell in the first longitudinal position.
 13. The surgical port system of claim 10, wherein the shell includes reusable material and each of the first and second seal assemblies includes disposable material.
 14. The surgical port system of claim 13, wherein the shell includes titanium and each of the first and second seal assemblies includes at least one of plastic or rubber.
 15. The surgical port system of claim 10, wherein each of the first and second seal assemblies includes a detent and the shell defines a detent slot that is positioned to receive the detent for securing one of the first or second seal assemblies to the shell.
 16. The surgical port system of claim 10, wherein each of the first and second seal assemblies supports a gasket to seal one of the first or second seal assemblies within the shell.
 17. The surgical port system of claim 10, wherein the window of the shell includes a tooth gap positioned to receive the tooth of the first seal assembly.
 18. The surgical port system of claim 10, wherein the window includes a tooth gap positioned to receive the tooth when the first seal assembly is laterally slid into the window.
 19. A method for sealing surgical instrumentation with a surgical port system, the method comprising: laterally inserting, from an external position, a first disposable seal assembly through a window defined in a sidewall of a housing of a shell, the first disposable seal assembly including a floating seal and a duckbill seal, the shell including a cannula extending from the housing; rotating the first disposable seal assembly relative to the housing to enable a keyed track of the housing and a tooth of the first disposable seal assembly to move the first disposable seal assembly from a first longitudinal position to a second longitudinal position that is vertically offset from the first longitudinal position to secure the first disposable seal assembly to the shell; and selectively removing the first disposable seal assembly from the housing for selective replacement with a second disposable seal assembly receivable through the window of the housing.
 20. The surgical port system of claim 19, wherein the second disposable seal assembly includes a floating seal and a duckbill seal. 